The cooperation between Lars Windhorst and Hertha BSC is about to end. The investor wants to sell his shares and close the chapter. But it won’t be that easy for him. This could continue with his Hertha shares.
After the allegations against Lars Windhorst and the escalation of the dispute with the club, the investor now wants to sell his shares in the professional department of Hertha BSC. But are there any interested parties at all – and what say does the Bundesliga soccer team have? Four options for how the Hertha shares could continue:
Lars Windhorst wants to end cooperation with Hertha BSC
The relationship between Hertha BSC and investor Lars Windhorst seems finally destroyed. In a statement on Facebook, Windhorst said he wanted to end the collaboration and offered to buy back his shares from the club.more
1. Very unlikely: Hertha buys back shares
The investor has offered Hertha BSC to buy back the 64.7 percent stake in the professional department. He is also formally obliged to do so, because the club has a right of first refusal. In return, however, Windhorst wants to get back the purchase price of 375 million euros. The fact that Hertha could raise these funds is considered impossible.
2. Unlikely: Hertha and Windhorst find a buyer together
In a statement, Hertha was willing to support Windhorst’s Tennor Group in its search for a suitable buyer and to enable an “orderly investor process in the best interests of Hertha BSC and Tennor’s investors and creditors”. Finding someone willing to pay the large sum will be difficult.
Because Windhorst had probably overestimated the value of the shares when he bought them. “There was certainly a lot of imagination in the valuation of 375 million. (…) Hertha BSC will not find a buyer at this price for these shares,” explains the economist Henning Zülch from the Leipzig Graduate School of Management. In addition, the sporting failure in recent years will have contributed significantly to the fact that the market value of the Bundesliga club has fallen rather than risen.
In addition, Windhorst could act as a deterrent for potential other investors. He brought a lot of money into the club but had little say in it. He was allowed to fill four of the nine seats on the supervisory board with his own people, but they only have a controlling function and no far-reaching opportunities for co-determination. He is also entitled to a seat on the advisory board, which has to approve a whole range of deals, the annual budget and transactions of over 25 million euros, but in which he does not have a majority. Potential buyers are unlikely to rush into this deal.
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3. Unlikely: Windhorst finds a buyer on its own
Even before the escalation of the dispute and the allegations against Windhorst, there were rumors that he wanted to get rid of his shares in the Bundesliga club. Tennor spokesman Andreas Fritzenkötter contradicted this on Thursday. “There were no attempts to get rid of the shares beforehand. On the contrary, Windhorst had at the beginning of the Era Amber offered again to ‘add’, i.e. to give money,” Fritzenkötter told rbb. He described rumors that the shares were currently pledged as “nonsense”. Hertha had the buyback offer, now Tennor is waiting for a reaction.
But what options does the investor have if Hertha does not buy back the shares and does not find a new investor together with the club? He could go it alone in search of a buyer who is willing to invest a large sum for little say. “We know from the Premier League that there are people, investors, corporations or funds in the USA or in other parts of the world who are interested in getting involved in European football,” explains financial expert and sports economist Henning Vöpel to rbb.
However, this could also result in a problem for Hertha BSC. “If you have signed an agreement with Lars Windhorst and he resells the shares, at some point you get someone on board who you don’t even know, who you don’t want. That’s exactly the problem. You can only hope for Hertha that it’s settled,” says Vöpel.
In fact, the Bundesliga club has taken precautions for this case. As the rbb learned from club circles, Hertha probably has a right of objection and could well refuse to sell the shares to windy business partners if there is a good reason.
Hertha fan club: “Windhorst wanted to get involved in sport”
Investor Lars Windhorst offered Hertha BSC to buy back his shares on Wednesday. There is no basis and no perspective for a successful cooperation, it said in a statement. Lutz Hoppe from the “Hertha BSC Berliner Sorgenkind” fan club cannot imagine who could now buy Windhorst’s shares.more
4. Most likely: Hertha and Windhorst will have to put up with each other for a while longer
So far there is no indication that Windhorst would accept a significantly lower price than 375 million for the shares. Dubious investors who might be willing to pay the high sum may be rejected by Hertha through the right of objection. So what happens if no buyer can be found?
“Then, in the best and worst case, nothing happens, except that Lars Windhorst keeps the shares and somehow remains tied to the club,” says sports economist Vöpel. A solution with which both parties should not really be satisfied. Hertha has to endure further unrest in the club, which could possibly also affect sporting success. But it was probably worst for Lars Windhorst, according to economist Zülch: “The biggest loser is Mr. Windhorst. He won’t get his money back, he can’t do anything, his hands are tied.”
Nevertheless, this scenario will remain the most likely for the time being, as long as Windhorst does not significantly lower the price for the shares. But if he does, it would also be conceivable that Hertha would buy back at least part and find a suitable investor for the rest to spread the financial burden.
Broadcast: rbb24, October 6th, 2022, 6 p.m
